Tony Stark was a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. That was before New York.
After New York, he realized what he actually was; a man in a can. How could he, a five foot and nine inch tall mortal being, stand up next to a six foot two inch Asgardian? To an army? To an alien army?
He thought he had all of the answers. That he held everything he knew in the palm of his hand. Then he found out that he wasn't holding all of the cards. Someone else was. Someone else was the genius, the teacher, and he was just the idiot student, made to be taught and ruled. The worst part was that it wasn't just one person who knew more than him. Based on what he had learned from the 'teacher,' nearly all other life in space knew more than him, the used-to-be genius.
After New York, he didn't understand. He was confused. He didn't know how everything had happened, when usually he had all of the answers. But when New York was over and he still couldn't explain it, he didn't know what to do. He found solace in tinkering with his toys. He found a way to heal himself.
He'd been beaten, but he wasn't broken.
Steve Rogers was the picture-perfect leader. He was courageous, strong, and cool tempered in hot situations. He was the Captain.
Leading in New York was a little different than what he was used to. He barely knew these people, these fellow Avengers, who were willing to sacrifice their lives for a world filled with injustice. They were just like him, except for the fact that they weren't from the 1940s.
He could tell, though, that those people were frightened of the unknown, another way that they were unlike him. He'd been thrust into the future, unwillingly, forced to live in a world the he didn't belong in. Forced to live in the unknown. He had no choice but to not be afraid. He had to learn the ways of this strange and dangerous place, all the while dying inside because he didn't belong there. He was out of place, much like a fish out of water, forced to walk on land.
To him, he belonged at the Stork club, wearing a pair of shiny black shoes, dancing in time with his girl, Peggy Carter. The thought of her left him beaten, but not broken.
Bruce Banner wasn't a normal man even before New York. He was green inside, and sometimes out, especially if he lost control.
After New York, control was hard to come by. Fears of what happened, or what could have happened, strangled him unexpectedly, leaving him, well, green.
There was anger there also. Anger at what S.H.I.E.L.D. had done regarding the tesseract. Anger at the people around him. Anger at himself for losing control.
He was also confused at the events that had occurred in New York. Where did the aliens come from? Who had Loki been 'working' for? There were so many unanswered questions, but his most frequently asked question was, "What do we do now?"
He wanted to help with the aftermath, but he didn't find himself, worthy, if that's the right word. He's not a hero. He's a monster, a monster that easily loses control. Yet, in New York, he put all of his fears behind him, and he was worthy.
Sure he might have broken a lot of things, and showing that side of him had left him beaten, but he wasn't broken.
Thor Odinson was usually a happy Asgardian God. Sure, he had his mood swings, his fits of childish behavior, but give him something to hit, and he'd be as right as the rain that he could so easily summon.
After New York, he became a changed man. He took responsibility for his brother's actions willingly, and sought to bring peace back to the nine realms. He had learned much in his time on earth, and saw things differently. He realized that even his most closest friends, could turn into monsters.
He loved his brother, and still does, but during New York he learned quickly that he had to draw the line between love, and madness. This troubled him, for he still felt sympathy for Loki, but his trust for him had been destroyed and thrown out the window.
He held all of his grief, and all of his anger towards his brother inside, leaving him beaten, but not broken.
Natasha Romanoff tried to remain unfazed after New York, but New York was something that she had never been trained for.
Granted, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s job description was extremely broad, but she never thought that it would include an alien army from outer space. She coped much better than most agents though, because that was what she had been trained for; dealing with things she didn't understand, yet taking out the threat anyway.
She hid her emotions as usual, but it was harder than it usually was. She had lost one of her most trusted friends, and nearly lost another. On the outside, she was a rock. Inside was a different story.
Clint saw the cracks in her armor, and tried to help as best he could, but he wasn't dealing so well himself. It was difficult, trying to help her, because right now she felt beaten, but with him, she sure wasn't broken.
Clint Barton now knew what it felt like to be unmade. He now knew what it felt like to be pulled out, and have something else stuffed in, and he had to say, he wasn't very fond of the feeling.
An icy blue color faded in and out of his fresh, new nightmares, freezing his heart, and his mind. His dreams consisted of many things, from his past, to Budapest, to Natasha. If he dreampt of Natasha, the blue would consume him, and the dream would end with her dead in his arms. When he would awaken from the vivid and horrible dreams, he would run straight into Natasha's room, just to make sure it wasn't true.
If the dreams weren't about Natasha, Budapest, or his past, they were about Coulson. His mentor, leader, and best friend. Dead, and it was all his fault. If only he had been strong enough to fight Loki's spell.
He almost lost everything after New York. He stopped eating, stopped sleeping, stopped moving. He wanted to stop breathing. Natasha pulled him out of it by showing him that she was hurting too, and they began to depend on each other.
With her, he wasn't broken, just a little beaten.
If you looked up the words "dysfunctional family" in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, you would find a picture of all of the Avengers, sitting at a wooden table, stuffing their faces with the Shawarma meal of their choice.
They were thrown together, not by choice, but by necessity. They each knew that they needed to save the world, the one place that they had come to know, and come to deal with. What they didn't know was how much they needed each other.
Tony found a friend in an unlikely Avenger, and discovered how useful patience could be. He taught Steve all the ways of new technology, including how to use a cell phone, how to navigate the internet, and even how to work JARVIS. Tony got close to Bruce too. They spent hours in the lab, trying to figure out answers to New York. They got help from Thor, who knew more about the outer worlds than they did. All that was needed for Thor's cooperation was a box of poptarts, and a mug of coffee. Occasionally Tony would need some information from S.H.I.E.L.D., but rather than hack in like he usually did, he would just go to Natasha or Clint for help. If the assassins stated that the needed information was 'classified', then Tony would turn to the old standby of hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D.
Steve didn't realize how useful all of the new technology was, until he grasped a firm control over it. At first he was overwhelmed with everything, but Tony mastered his patience, and helped him understand. Sometimes Bruce would call random questions out in the lab, and Steve would jump to the nearest computer, pull up Google, and find the answers to the questions. Steve even began teaching Thor some of the new technological devices he had so recently gotten the hang of. Whenever Clint and Natasha would show their faces, and Steve portrayed his eagerness to answer Bruce's questions correctly, Clint would laugh bemusedly, showing a rare smile, while Natasha would just shake her head.
Bruce felt comfortable for the first time since before his 'accident.' He had a safe place to work, plenty of resources, and people to watch out for him. Tony had built a container for Bruce to take shelter in, just in case Bruce lost control. Bruce found though, that he didn't loose control as easily anymore; his mind was focused on the work at hand. Bruce also realized that he wasn't the only person with problems. He saw how put out Steve would be, sulking in the lab, so he started throwing out random questions for Steve to answer. Not only that, but Bruce helped Thor with his feelings of anger, teaching him a few tricks of his own. He also felt even more secure having Natasha and Clint around, knowing that if needed, they would help him out if something went wrong. They were fearless, or so it seemed to him.
Thor could never have been happier with his new friends. With his new family. Tony had him talk about all of the nine realms, and about everyone that called those places their home. Bruce tested Thor's hammer, as well as running a few tests on Thor. Thor didn't have a problem with that at all. The more he shared about his world, the happier his friends became, making him even happier, if that's possible. Steve taught Thor the odd technologies of Midgard, once wasting a whole day just to watch countless YouTube videos, but it was worth it. Natasha and Clint still remained rather elusive, but occasionally Clint would silently join in on a game of Mario Kart with Thor and Steve, while Natasha watched in the background.
Natasha was of course wary of all of the Avengers, and the fact that they were unpredictable, but she grew to tolerate them, and in the ways of Natasha, that was practically saying that she loved them. Granted, Tony often got on her nerves when he would ask about her and Clint sometimes sleeping in the same room, but she would just glare at him, and he would fall silent. It was basically their daily routine, and if Tony didn't ask in the morning when they came from the same room, Natasha would know that something was very wrong. With Bruce, Natasha didn't act like she was walking on eggshells, which made Bruce extremely comfortable around her. She wasn't scared of him, and he was thankful for that. Steve and Thor didn't really understand Natasha, but she didn't mind. She liked to stay secretive, but sometimes she couldn't help but smile at their silly personalities. Clint was gradually getting better, and spent more and more of his time with their new team, if that's what you want to call it.
Clint's nightmares slowly began to fade and the sharpness of New York was dulling. He began to see the big picture, after taking a step back, for he sees better from a distance. He realized that these strange people had his back, and now he was willing to have theirs. Tony was a tad annoying to Natasha, but Clint didn't mind him. In fact, he began to pull pranks on the genius, sometimes switching out slides under a microscope, or changing JARVIS's accent to Australian. Clint too began to mess with Bruce, because if Natasha wasn't afraid, then he wasn't either. Clint didn't try anything though that would make Bruce go green. Eventually, Clint, Steve, and Thor set up a movie night, and required all of the Avengers to stop what they were doing, calling them to assemble together to watch the film. Though Natasha was still nervous about the whole team setup, Clint was getting used to the idea. These were the people that all congregated because of the death of one of his closest friends. These people cared too, and didn't see Clint as a mindless puppet he thought he was.
These people had all been beaten, one way, or another. They'd been taken down. Defeated. But, like the sun, they rose again, whether it was by searching for answers, understanding the new world, feeling safe, finding a new family, gaining confidence, or just seeing the big picture.
So call them broken. Say that they're nothing but broken pieces of glass in an already shattered world. I dare you.
They're not broken. They aren't pieces of glass in a shattered world. They're the glue holding it together. They're what is keeping you and me safe. They're The Avengers, and that's what they do. You can call them broken, but you'd be wrong.
They have been beaten, but they are not broken.
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Because Phil is amazing, and I just couldn't leave him out, this next part is on the one and only, Phil Coulson. He is the one Avenger that was broken.
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Phil Coulson has been to a magical place. He's been to Tahiti. And it sucked.
He stopped living. He ceased to exist. He was no longer breathing. He was declared dead. Did that stop him?
Nope.
He is an Avenger, on the most simple, and the most complex terms. He doesn't have the superhuman abilities, the Asgardian magic, or the billion dollar equipment, but he does have heart. He has the goodness inside of him that makes him who he was. Who he is. He is an Avenger. He is the Captain America of the modern world.
His existence is a miracle, but is this not the age of miracles? Sure, some things about his new and supposedly improved mind are questionable, but this is where he is different from the other Avengers. He, unlike any of the others, has not been beaten.
He's been broken, and put back together again.